Shoe upper shaping machines



A July 29, 1958 F. E. s'rRAT'roN 2,844,831

SHOE UPPER SHAPI-NG MACHINES Original Filed Aug. 21, 1953 -5 Sheets-Sheet 1 es N 4 I \v fum-,55:35u

i l J6 Y iw' mflnm July 29, 1958 F. E. sTRATToN SHOE UPPER SHAPING MACHINES Original Filed Aug. 21. 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 rank 'tratton By his viter-nay [hz/en tor 168 jg@ J6 fr@ -f July 291 1958 l F; E. @mM-T0151` 2,844,831 v SHOE UPPERSHAPING MACHINES Original Filed Aug 21, 1953 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 MMM F. E. sTRATToN l sHoE UPPER SHAPING' MACHINES July 29, 1958 5 rSmeets-*sheet 4 Original'Filed Aug. 21. 1953 wenarl Frank E, Stratton By his Atto July 29, 1958 F. E. sTRATToN 2,844,831

sHoE UPPER SEAPING MACHINES Original Filed Aug. 2l, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet .5

film/z for Fran/LS! rcz f fon By his A IOrneL/J United States Patent frice z,s44,s31 y snol: UPPER SHAPING MACHINES Frank E. Stratton, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application August 21, 1953, Serial No. 375,692,

now Patent No. 2,799,875, dated July 23, 1957. Digdzegsalnd this application January 31, 1956, Serial No.

5 Claims. (Cl. 12'-12.1)

This invention relates to machines for use in shaping shoe' uppers over lasts and is a division of my copending apphcation for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 375,692, filed August 21, 1953, now Patent No. 2,799,875, granted July 23, 1947, which relates to machines for use in assembling shoe upper parts upon a last and shaping portions of the shoe upper parts about the last.

The shaping of the breast line portions of shoe uppers usually involves manual operations to eliminate any wrinkles that may have occurred in the upper parts and to insure the proper position of the upper parts relatively to each other and to the last.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an upper shaping machine the construction and operation of which permits the performance of manual operations at the breast line whilethe shoe is supported in the machine. It is a further object of the invention to provide an organization which facilitates the manual operations at the breast line and enables the operator to perform them more quickly, accurately and reliably than heretofore.

With the above and other objects in view the present invention in one aspect thereof consists in the provision in a shoe machine of a novel wiper and tacker assembly including lasting wipers and wiper carriers mounting fastening inserting means, said carriers being mounted on arms which, in turn, are mounted on a second carrier movable to adjust the wipers in the direction of the length of a last in the machine, The second carrier, as illustrated in the drawings, is mounted on rails for rectilinear movement and a hand screw is provided for imparting ad-y justive movements to the carrier. The wiper assembly comprises a back line wiper and a pair of breast line wipers. In order to provide for slight variations in the angular disposition of the heel seat face of a last in the machine the carrier for the back line wiper assembly is constructed and arranged for adjustive movement heightwise of the last. For actuating the two breast line wipers and the back line wiper there are provided three actuators herein illustrated as pressure iluid operated pistons and the connections between the pistons and the arms which carry the wipers, respectively, are constructed and arranged to permit relative translatory movement of each arm and its actuator.

These and other features of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

. Fig, 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in right side elevation of the head of the machine with a portion of the machine framebroken away; v

- Fig. 3 is a section on the line lll-III of Fig. 6;

Fig. 4 is a-view of the head of the machine partly in -right sideelevation and partly in section on the line IV-IV of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in section on the line V'V of Fig. 4; and

Y 2,844,831 Patented July 29, 1958 Fig. 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of Fig. 2.

'Ihe invention is embodied in a hydraulically operated machine in which a last having shoe upper parts mounted thereon Yis supported in inverted position on a last pinprojecting upwardly from a work supporting member which, in its rest position, is inclined forwardly into a position convenient for the mounting of the last on the last pin and the performance of manual operations on the upper. For positioning the upper relatively to the last for the operations to be performed thereon the work supporting assembly has mounted thereon a manually operated gripper constructed and arranged to engage the toe end of the upper and to impart toeward tension to the upper and to hold the upper so tensioned during the operation of the machine. During the power cycle of the machine the work support is moved rearwardly 'and then upwardly to advance the last and the upper thereon to an operating station where a plurality of lasting wipers wipe the back line portion and the breast line portions of the upper materials in over an insole on the last bottom. Upon the completion of the wiping operations the release of latches permits previously loaded springs to drive six tacks, two at opposite sides of the heel breast portion and two at the back line to secure the overlasted margin of the upper together with the flange of the counter and the margin of the lining to an insole on the last bottom. Immediately after the tack driving operations thetack drivers are retracted and substantially concomitantly with the retraction of the tack drivers the work supporting assembly is moved downwardly and then forwardly into its initial or rest position.

Referring now to Fig. l, the illustrated machine comprises a base frame 10 which houses the power plant and the hydraulic valve assemblies, .a head frame 12 anda housing 14 mounted on the top of the head frame and enclosing mechanism for adjusting certain operating instrumentalities. The head frame comprises two side plates 16l which are supported on the top of the lbase frame and converge upwardly from the base frame to the housing. The side plates are connected together by a front plate 18 the opposite side edges of which are welded to the forward edges of the side plates. The head frame is supported by its bottom edges on the top of the base frame 10 and is olset inwardly slightly from the front and the sides of the base frame. The headV frame is characterized by a lower portion which houses parts of the work ysupporting assembly and a waist portion in which the front plate is oiset rearwardly at 20 and occupies a position substantially midway between the front and the back of the machine. The front plate curves upwardly and rearwardly from the base frame to the rearwardly offset portion 20 which extends vertically upwardly to the housing 14 to which it is secured (Fig, 4). The

upper portions of the side plates 16 `have forward extensions or wings 22 on which are mounted certain operating nstrumentalities. The housing 14 has mountedA therein mechanism for adjusting the operating instrumentalities in accordance with the size of the shoe to be operated upon. A tack supplying and feeding mechanism' 23 of known construction is mounted on the top of the housing 14l and arranged to supply tacks to tack driving mechanisms incorporated in the wiper assemblies.

For wiping the lasting margin of the back line portion of the upper over the insole on the last bottom and for holding the lasting margin overwiped while fastenings herein illustrated as tacks, are driven to secure Lthe last# -ing margin in overwiped position, the illustrated machine is provided with a back line wiper 24' (Fig..4) the lower portion of which is bifurcated to str'addle the shank por# -tion 26 (Fig. 2). of a holddown 28. For wiping the lasting margin at opposite sides of the breast line portion of .the

upper inwardly over the insole and holding it in lasted position while fastenings are driven, the illustrated machine is provided with breast line wipers 30 and 32 (Fig. positioned at opposite sides of the breast line portion of the shoe for operative movement widthwise of the shoe. Referring to Fig. 2, the illustrated backline wiper comprises a pair `of vertical plates 34 the rear portions of which are offset downwardly to provide abutments for arresting the overwiping movement of the wiper plates by engagement with the feather line portion of the upper at opposite sides of the'backline. The wiper plates 34 are secured yby headed screws 36 to a wiper carrier 38. The wiper carrier is pivotally mounted at the lower end of a Wiper operating lever 40 and its angular disposition is determined by a tack driver lever 42 pivotally connected to its upper end portion. VReferring to Fig. 5, the illustrated wiper lever comprises two arms each having a hub 44 at its upper end fixed toa pin 46 journaled in a lug 48 projecting downwardly from the forward portion of an arm 50 (Fig. 4). The lower portions of the arms comprising the wiper lever 40 converge downwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, tothe point where they engage the opposite side faces of the wiper carrier 38. vReferring to Fig. 4 the arm 50 is pivotally mounted between lugs 52 projecting downwardly from a member 54 secured by headed screws 56 to a plate 58 comprising the top of the housing 14. The arm 50 is urged upwardly by a spring 60 the lower end of which is anchored to the free endof the arm and the upper end to the head of a bolt 62 fixed to the plate 58. The spring 60 holds the arm 50 in contact with the lower end of a threaded pin 64 mounted in a threaded axial bore in a worm gear 66 which is held against vertical movement by la boss 68 projecting downwardly from the plate 58 and an 'arm 70 projecting forwardly from the member 54. The ann 70 and the boss 68 are drilled to receive the threaded pin 64. In order to hold the pin against rotation a headed screw 72 is mounted in the boss 68 and has its reduced end portion seated in a longitudinal groove in the pin. It will be seen that rotation of the worm gear 66 elfects vertical movement of the threaded pin 64 thus varying the angular position of the arm 50, and imparting adjustive movement heightwise `of a shoe in the machine to the back line wipers 34. To provide for the convenient operation of the worm gear 66 a worm 74 is xed to the inner end portion -of a shaft 76 `and arranged to mesh with the worm gear 66, the shaft being journaled in an elongated boss 78 (Fig. 6) projecting inwardly to the left from the right side wall of the housing 14. A handle 80 iixed to the right end portion of 4the shaft 76 projecting outwardly beyond the housing provides a convenient means for the manual operation of the worm 74. In order to permit the back line wipers 34 to yield upwardly as required during the overwiping operation the connections between the arms of the wiper lever 40 and the wiper carrier 38 comprise a 'short vertical slot 82 formed in a rearward extension 84 of the wiper carrier rand a cross pin 86 xed in the lower end portions of the larm 40 .and extending through the slot. For applying wiping pressure to the back line wipers 34 a spr-ing 88 (Fig. 4) has its lower end seated in a socket in the extension 84 and has its upper end seated in a socket in a crosshead 90 connecting rthe lower portions of the arms of the wiper lever 40. For advancing the back line wipers to wipe the lasting margin of the upper inwardly over the insole on the last bottom, a piston 92 is mounted in a cylinder 94 fixed to and projecting rearwardly from the vertical section of the front plate 18 of the head frame. The rod 96 of the piston 92 projects forwardly through a stuing box 98 fixed to the head of the cylinder 94 and has at its forward end a discoidal head 100 the margin of which is tapered for operation in vertical channels formed in rearward extensions of the crosshead 90. The crosshead is held against horizontal movementwidthwise of a shoe in the machine by its engagement with the edge face of the head 100.

The breast line wipers 30 and 32 (Fig. 5) are mounted respectively at the lower ends of two levers 104 and 106 which are pivotally mounted at their upper ends on shafts 108 and 110. The construction and operation of the breast line wiper 'assemblies are substantially identical and the following description of the construction and operation of the right-hand wiper assembly will be understood to apply equally well to the left-hand assembly. Referring to Fig. 4, the lever 106 comprises a pair of parallel arms projecting downwardly with a forward inclination from a common hub 112 and joined together by a web except at their lower end portions. At their lower ends the arms are connected by a crosshead 114 (Fig. 5) which has attached thereto a channel member 116 having its channel disposed horizontally. For advancing and retracting the breast line wiper 32 a piston 118 on a piston rod 120 is mounted in a cylinder 122 secured to the edge face of an annular boss 124 projecting inwardly from the side plate 16 of the head frame, the cylinder being secured to the boss by headed Vscrews 126 extending through a flange 128 at the inner end of the cylinder. The piston rod 120 is mounted in a gland or stuffing box 130 fixed to the cylinder. The piston is moved to the left, as seen in Fig. 5, to advance the breast line wiper 32 by pressure tiuid entering the cylinder 122 through a port 132 and is moved to the right to retract the breast line wiper by pressure uid entering the cylinder through a port (not shown) in the left end portion of the cylinder. To provide a connection between the piston rod 120 and the channel member 116 the piston rod has a discoidal head 134 mounted in the channel of the member 116 and having its marginal portion tapered to provide clearance for the angular movements of the channel member relatively to the head. During the movement of the piston to the right, as seen in Fig. 5, the head 134acts against flanges 136 and 138 projecting, respectively, downwardly and upwardly from the channel member. The illustrated breast line wiper 32 comprises a wiper plate arranged in a generally vertical position and secured by two bolts 142 to a wiper carrier 144. To provide for the mounting of the carrier on the wiper lever 106 an ear 146 projecting to the right from the body portion of the carrier is slotted to receive a cross pin 148 mounted in the parallel arms of the lever 106 at their lower extremities. The right side portion of the wiper plate 140 is extended downwardly beyond the left side portion to provide an abutment surface for limiting the overwiping movement of the wiper plate. In order to impart downward or wiping pressure to the wiper plate a spring is interposed between the crosshead 114 and the ear 146.

In order to provide for the adjustment of the breast line wipers 30 and 32 lengthwise of a shoe in the machine for operation on shoes of different sizes the hub 112 (Fig. 4) at the upper end of the wiper lever 106 is slidably mounted on the Ihorizontal shaft 110 and the hub 152 (Fig. 6) at the upper end of the wiper lever 104 is slidably mounted on the shaft 108. The shafts 110 and 108 are arranged parallel to each other and mounted in bosses 154 projecting inwardly from the housing 14. For concomitantly and uniformly moving the hubs 112 and 152 forwardly or rearwardly on the shafts 110 and 108, respectively, the illustrated machine is provided with a shifter comprising a crosshead 156 having at its opposite ends yokes 158 and 160. The yoke 158 is mounted slidably on the shaft 108 and arranged to engage opposite end faces of the hub 152, and similarly the yoke 160 is slidably mounted on the shaft 110 and arranged to engage opposite end faces of the hub 112. To provide for the convenient operation of the shifter a hand screw 162 is journaled in a cylindrical bearing member 164 projecting rearwardly from thefront of the housing 14 and has threaded engagement in a lug 166 (Fig. 3) projecting downwardly from the cross member 156 of the shifter. Fixed to the forward end portion of thescrew 162 is a hand wheel 168 andsxed `tothe central `portion of the screw is a collar 170 for preventing movement of the screw to the left, as seen in Fig. 3.

The angular disposition of the breast line wiper 32, as seen in Fig." 4, is determined by a tack driver lever 172`which has a ball-and-socket connection to the upper end of a tack driver bar 174 mounted in a bore in an upward-extension of the wiper carrier 144. It will be understood that the angular disposition of the wiper 32 will be altered by the adjustment of the wiper operating lever 106 as above described. In order to provide for such angular movement of lthe YWiper carrier 144 the ear 146 of the wiper carrier has convex front and rear surfaces, as shown in Fig. 4.

Inasmuch as there is no provision in the illustrated machine for adjustment of the three lasting wipers as a unit heightwise of the shoe, means is provided for adjusting the position of the shoe itself heightwise thereof in accordance with variations in the thicknesses of the overlasted materials. In the illustrated organization the position of the shoe heightwise thereof is determined by an abutment rod 176 which limits the upward movement of the shoe and its supporting assembly by the engagement therewith of the holddown arm 28. Accordingly, the adjustment of the position of the shoe heightwise thereof is effected by a vertical adjustment of the abutment rod 176. To this end the upper portion of the abutment rod, as shown in Fig. 5, is threaded for engagement in a threaded axial bore in a worm gear 178 which is held against vertical movement between the lower end of a hollow boss 180 extending downwardly from the top plate 58 of the housing 14 and parallel ears 182 projecting rearwardly from the front wall of the housing. For rotating the worm gear 178 in order to adjust the vertical position of the abutment rod a worm shaft 184 is mounted in a bearing in the front wall of the housing and has xed thereto a worm 186 arranged to mesh with the Worm gear. To provide for manual rotation of the worm shaft a knob 188 (Fig. 1)- is Xed to that portion of the shaft projecting forwardly from the housing.

In the preparation of the work for the operation of the illustrated machine thereon a counter which has been molded with an inturned ange is coated with a suitable adhesive and manually inserted between the upper and the lining in the heel end portion of the upper. The quarter lining is then brought into intimate contact with the inner surface of the counter by the pressure of the fingers of the operator against the lining while the upper is held or supported in any convenient manner. After the upper parts have been thus assembled they are mounted on a last to the bottom of which an insole has been attached. After accurately orienting the back line portion of the upper with relation to the last and determining the position of the upper heightwise thereof on the last, the last with the upper mounted thereon is mounted on the last pin 190 and is so oriented that the longitudinal median line of the rear part of the last lies substantially in a vertical plane extending from front to back of the machine. While the shoe upper parts are manually held in proper position on the last the operator depresses a treadle 192 (Fig. 1) to cause two presser members or clamps 194 to be advanced by power into engagement with the heel end portion of the upper in order to hold it against dislocation relatively to the last. The operator then adjusts the shoe upper parts at the heel breast line with the aid of hand pincers and thereupon two pressure pads or clamps 196 (Fig. 5) are advanced by power into engagement with vopposite sides of the heel portion of the upper to clamp the shoe upper parts to the last in the position in which they are located by the hand pincers. The operator then ydepresses the treadle 192 to initiate the nal part of the power cycle. During this part of the cycle the work supporting assembly is swung rearwardly into an upright position and moved upwardly to bring it into a position determined by the engagement of the holddown arm 28 (Fig. 5) with the lower vcorporated in the wiper asemblies are operated to secure the overlasted marginal portions of the upper together with the flange of the counter and the bottom margin of the lining to the insole. After the tacks are driven the power operated instrumentalities and the clamping members are retracted and the work supporting assembly is returned to its rest position illustrated in Fig. 2. Thereupon, the toe gripper jaws are manually opened and returned to their rest position and the last, with the upper parts assembled thereon, is removed from the work supporting assembly.

While the operation of the illustrated machine is herein described with relation to the manufacture lof shoes having counters which are molded and inwardly flanged, it is to be understood that the illustrated machine is equally well adapted to operate on shoes provided with counters which have not been previously molded or which have been only partially molded or counters which are in a accid condition during the assembling and breast line lasting operations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as y new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a shoe machine two Wipers for wiping the lasting margin at opposite sides of a shoe upper over an insole on a last bottom, carriers for the wipers respectively, fastening inserting means mounted in the carriers respectively, means for actuating the fastening inserting means to secure the lasted margin of the upper lto the insole, two arms on which the wiper carriers are respectively mounted, a second carrier for the arms, and means for moving the second carrier in a direction to adjust the wipers lengthwise of a last in the machine.

2. In a shoe machine a wiper for wiping the lasting margin of a shoe upper over an insole on a last bottom, a carrier for the wiper, a tack rdriver mounted in the carrier, a lever for actuating the tack driver to secure the lasted margin of the upper to the insole, said lever providing a fulcrum on which the carrier moves angularly, an arm on which the wiper carrier is mounted for angular movement, a second carrier on which the arm is mounted for adjustive movement, a wiper actuator, and connections between the actuator and the arm constructed and arranged to permit relative translatory movement of the arm and the actuator.

3. In a shoe machine a wiper for wiping the lasting margin of a shoe upper over an insole on a last bottom, a carrier for the wiper, a tack driver mounted in the carrier, a lever for actuating the tack driver to secure the lasted margin of the upper to the insole, an arm on which the wiper carrier is mounted, a second carrier on which the arm is mounted for adjustive movement, a pressure fluid actuated piston for actuating the wiper, and connections between the piston and the arm comprising a head and a head-receiving channel member constructed and arranged to permit relative translatory movement of the arm and the piston.

4. In a shoe machine a back line wiper, a pair of breast line wipers, a first arm on which the back line wiper is mounted, two arms for mounting the breast line wipers, respectively, a iirst carrier for mounting the first arm, a second carrier for mounting the two arms, means for moving the rst carrier to adjust the position of the back line wiper heightwise of a last in the machine, and means for moving the second carrier to adjust the positions of the breast line wipers lengthwise of the last.

5. In a shoe machine a Iback line wiper, a pair of breast line wipers, a iirst arm on which the back line wiper is mounted, two arms for mounting the breast line 7 t wipers, respectively, a `first carrier for mounting the tirst References Cited in the file of this patent arm, a second carrier for mounting the two arrns, means UNITED STATES PATENTS for movmg the rst carrier to adjust the posmon of the back linewiper heightwse of alast in the machine, means Re 8,627 Trask er aL Mar 118 1879 for moving the second carrier to adjust the positions lof 5 2631346 McKay Aug-429 1882 the breast line wipers lengthwise'of the last, an actuator 113361875 Wentworth APr 13 1920 for the back line wiper, two actuators for the breast line 21033245 Jorgenserl Mar- 10 1936 wipers, respectively, and connections between the actua- 211501892 De Lrso Mar211939 2,543,178 Kvapil et al Feb. 27, 1951 tors and the wipers, respectively, constructed and arranged 2,689,964 Seneben Sept. 28, 1954 

